Oct. 6, 2012

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With the year quickly coming to a close, Greene County officials are taking a hard look at the county’s financial situation for guidance with the upcoming budget.

2012 has been plagued with financial missteps — a narrowly missed payment, a bond rate reduction, a quick scramble to pay outstanding debt and the resignation of the county’s budget officer.

Enlisting help from the county auditor and assistant budget officer to crunch the numbers, top county leaders have taken a fresh look at the county’s financial standing.

The News-Leader did as well, surveying other similar counties and analyzing the data to determine Greene County’s comparable fiscal outlook.

Greene County holds high amount of debt

With $71,292,520 in long-term debt stretched as far out as 2029, Greene County has the second-highest amount of outstanding debt among four similar Missouri counties and six other benchmark counties outside the state.

Alachua County in Florida has the highest amount of oustanding debt of the counties surveyed. However, while that county currently holds $109,475,000 in long-term debt, it also takes in more than twice the revenue compared to Greene County.

To look at it another way, Greene County’s debt amounts to $259.08 for each person in the county, according to 2010 Census data.

The lowest amount of debt held by the counties surveyed is Boone County with $5,423,626.34. That amount to roughly $33.34 per county resident based on the same 2010 population data.

Among the benchmark counties outside of the state, identified by local officials as similar in size, population, revenue and other factors, the lowest amount of debt was held by Larimer County, Colo.

With $36,945,000 in long-term debt, that is equal to $123.30 for each county resident.

Greene County also had the second-lowest bond rating at A2. The lowest was Elkhart County, Ind., with an A- rating. Eight of the 10 counties surveyed had an Aa2 rating.

Commissioners cautious about any future debt

Presiding Commissioner Jim Viebrock, who took the position two years ago after unseating long-time incumbent David Coonrod, has been a vocal opponent of the previous financial policies of the county.

“The debt load is a frustration of mine, and I inherited it,” Viebrock said upon hearing how high the county’s debt is compared to benchmark counties.

But while he would have done things differently, including scaling back the new $19.7 million Public Safety Center and funneling more funds toward law enforcement, he can understand why the previous commission made the decisions it did.

“To be fair, it’s easy for me to pick on Dave,” Viebrock said. “But they were making those decisions when the economy was fabulous.”

Associate commissioners Harold Bengsch and Roseann Bentley have both been commissioners for eight years.

They stand by the financial decisions made during their tenures, including the Public Safety Center construction and other investments, like Neighborhood Improvement Districts and sewer improvements.

“I think that we, even despite having those (outstanding debts), we’re still in reasonably good shape,” Bengsch said.

Bentley feels the debt has been deliberately and carefully planned to deal with the county’s rapid growth while maintaining little risk.

“I feel like we have a very well thought-out plan spaced over the next 20 years,” she said.

Bentley and Bengsch acknowledged that although the total amount of debt is high, much of it will be retired by funds outside of county general revenue — including parks taxes and levied property taxes against homeowners in Neighborhood Improvement Districts.

Still, all three commissioners agree that the struggles over the downed economy have resulted in more fiscal prudence.

“That’s one of the reasons we’ve been extremely cautious and extremely careful,” in the past four years, Bengsch said.

“We want to make sure we’re not exposing the county to unnecessary risk.”

Looking forward to 2013

But not all financial news from the county is gloomy.

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This week Auditor Cindy Stein and all three commissioners met to map out the county’s current fiscal standing and forecast for 2013.

Building permit numbers are up, fee revenue has continued to climb and, for the first time in four years, the county has forecast ending the year with more money in the bank than it started with.

Although commissioners left that study session feeling upbeat, they stress caution is still their collective attitude.

“I hesitate to get overly enthusiastic about these glimmers of hope, simply because they can vanish overnight,” Bengsch said.

Viebrock anticipates that 2013 won’t be easy, but says he’s confident the county is well positioned when the economy ramps up.

“When the economy turns, we’ll be in a much better position to make those big steps forward that we have put on the back burner for awhile,” he said, like upgrades to the county’s juvenile building and investments in law enforcement.